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While You Were Sleeping
While You Were Sleeping is a 1995 romantic comedy film based on the Super Mario Bros. series of video games and the three DiC Entertainment Super Mario cartoons, directed by Jon Turteltaub, written by Daniel G. Sullivan and Frederic Lebow, and produced by Hollywood Pictures and Caravan Pictures. It stars Sandra Bullock as Princess Toadstool, the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom and a Chicago Transit Authority token collector and Bill Pullman as [Mario, the brother of a man whose life she saves, along with Peter Gallagher as Toad, the man who is saved, and Peter Boyle, Glynnis Johns, and Jack Warden as members of his family. Plot Princess Toadstool (Sandra Bullock) is a lonely token collector on the Chicago Transit Authority who has a secret crush on a handsome commuter named Toad (Peter Gallagher). On Christmas Day, she rescues him from an oncoming train after a mugger pushes him onto the tracks. He falls into a coma, and she accompanies him to the hospital, where a nurse overhears her musing aloud, "I was going to marry him." Misinterpreting her, the nurse tells his family that she is his fiancée. At first she is too caught up in the panic to explain the truth. She winds up keeping the secret for a number of reasons: she is embarrassed, Toad's Grandmother has a heart condition, and she quickly comes to love being a part of his big and loving family. One night, thinking she's alone while visiting him, she confesses about her predicament. Unbeknownst to her, Toadsworth (Toad's godfather, in his first appearance) overhears the truth and later confronts her, but tells her he'll keep her secret, because the accident has brought the Toads closer. With no family and few friends, the Princess becomes so captivated with the quirky Toads and their unconditional love for her that she can't bring herself to hurt them by revealing that Toad doesn't even know her. She spends a belated Christmas with them and then meets his younger brother, Mario (Bill Pullman), who is supposed to take over his father's furniture business. He is suspicious of her at first, but he falls in love with her as they spend time together. They develop a close friendship and soon after she falls in love with him as well. On New Year's Eve, Toad wakes up. He has no memory of Princess Toadstool, but by this time his family has become so convinced of the engagement story that they assume he must have amnesia. She and Peter spend time together, but she has already fallen in love with Mario. Toadsworth persuades Toad to propose to her "again," and she agrees despite her feelings for Mario. When he visits her the day before the wedding, she gives him a chance to change her mind, asking him if he can give her a reason not to marry Toad. He replies that he can't, leaving her disappointed. On the day of the wedding, just as the priest begins the ceremony, Princess Toadstool finally confesses everything and tells the Toads that she is in love with Mario, her rescuer from the Super Mario Bros. game, rather than Toad. Toadette, Toad's real fiancée (who happens to be married herself), also arrives to stop the wedding. As all of the Toads (including Toad, Toadette and Toadsworth) argue, the Princess slips out unnoticed, unsure of her future. Some time later, as she works at the subway station, Mario places an engagement ring in the tray of her booth. With all the Toads and Luigi watching, he walks into there and proposes to her. In the last scenes of the film, they kiss at the end of their wedding, then leave on a train for their honeymoon. She narrates that he fulfilled her dream of going to Florence, Italy, and explains that, when Toad asked when she fell in love with Mario, she replied: "It was while you were sleeping." Cast *Sandra Bullock as Princess Toadstool, the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom and a young woman who lives in Chicago. Her mother died when she was an infant, and her father had died a year prior to the events in the film. *Peter Gallagher as Toad, Princess's assistant and a successful lawyer who uses the subway station where Princess works *Bill Pullman as Mario, Luigi's brother *Micole Mercurio as Toad's mother *Peter Boyle as Moldy, Toad's father *Monica Keena as Toad's sister *Glynis Johns as Toad's grandmother *Jack Warden as Toadsworth, Toad's godfather (debut) *Jason Bernard as the Princess's friend and coworker whom she relies on for advice *Michael Rispoli as Luigi, Lucy's landlord's swarthy, heavyset son *Ally Walker as Toadette, Peter's real fiancée who now wants to marry him (debut) Characters * Princess Peach * Mario * Luigi * Toad * Moldy Characters introduced * Toadette * Toadsworth * Toad's mom * Toad's grandma * Peach's friend Production The role of Princess Toadstool was written with Demi Moore in mind, but she turned it down because the studio refused to meet her salary demands. Location Part of the film was filmed at the Lake Point Tower. State/Lake Station was used for exterior shots of the 'L'. Princess Toadstool's home was shot in Logan Square. Randolph/Wabash Station was used for the scene where she rescues Peter. Response The film was a tremendous success, grossing a total of $182,057,016 worldwide against an estimated $17,000,000 budget. It made $9,288,915 on its opening weekend of April 21–23, 1995. It was the fifteenth-highest grosser of 1995 in the United States. It, along with Speed'', are credited as having launched Bullock into stardom. The film was a critical success. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 85% of critics gave it positive reviews. Bullock received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical - Motion Picture. International Adaptation The Malayalam film Chandralekha has a similar plot with completely different background, characterizations and screenplay. The Hindi film Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega turns out to be an adaptation of it.